Artist Catalogue

Virtual Exhibition

Second Nature

In the organic forms and undulating textures of Second Nature, I evoke an incongruous and obscure landscape that recasts as dead the world view of an ecology that is self-correcting, self-healing and harmonious. I draw attention to the transformation of matter and the nature of how it cycles: a trajectory that is so powerful that it has situated humanity in a new geological epoch where molecules to water cycles, weather patterns to climates, have become (unnaturally) disordered.

In a futile and laborious pursuit, I attempt to make order through the collection, categorization, and re-connection of waste materials.  I am intrigued by the histories these objects embody, most recently as objects of waste, as well as dating back aeons, where they existed naturally as fossil fuels, sand, and the bark of a growing tree. I aim to preserve the remnants of the objects’ past transformations and orchestrate my own. I hold a deep respect for these vital materialities and have often felt entrusted to allow them a space outside of the landfill, to transform them from unwanted detritus into art objects of contemplation, capable of telling new stories that still evoke the past. 

The torn-up and faceted materiality echo shapes of terrestrial elemental forms and fragile ecologies, evoking images of dry, cracked earth and polluted, violent waters. A distant view presents elements and textures of the natural world that draw one in, but a closer look breaks the illusion as the viewer discovers the truth of the materiality.

Amid the historical layering and marvellous decrepitude, I lay a tension between nature and culture, the microscopic and the macrocosm, and between past time, immediate lived experience, and the uncertainties that lie ahead.

I hold a deep respect for these vital materialities and have often felt entrusted to allow them a space outside of the landfill, to transform them from unwanted detritus into art objects of contemplation, capable of telling new stories that still evoke the past.